Breadcrumb

Theatre Major BFA - Area 1: Performance

Building Your Skills

As a BFA Performance student at UCM you’ll have acting opportunities from 35-40 productions
each year. The 442- seat, state-of-the-art James L. Highlander Theater will offer
you diverse experiences on a traditional proscenium stage. Our flexible, 100-seat
Nickerson Black Box Theater will provide you with more intimate acting challenges
like you would experience in television and film. Each summer you’ll have paid opportunities
to company manage, direct, design or act in our touring children’s production. UCM
Theatre and Dance invites you to join a diverse body of students, professional faculty,
and participate in a rigorous curriculum that will prepare you for graduate programs
or a professional career!

John Wilson

Chair, School of Visual and Performing Arts, Professor of Theatre, Performance Specialist

John Wilson is a performance specialist on the UCM Theatre and Dance faculty. Mr.
Wilson is an Equity and SAG member who acts professionally on stage and in commercials
and film. He is the author of The Actor As Fire And Cloud, and teaches the following
classes in the performance curriculum: Acting, Stage Movement, Stage Voice, Advanced
Acting, Advanced Scene Study, Period Acting Styles and Senior Showcase. Mr. Wilson
is also a fight director, staging fights at UCM and professionally for a number of
Kansas City Equity theaters.

Mary Trotter

Assistant Professor of Theatre

Mary Trotter is a performance specialist on the UCM Theatre and Dance faculty. She
has acted and directed professionally in the pacific northwest, Chicago, and New York
City, where she had the pleasure of studying with Patsy Rodenburg. Trotter is a certified
NIA instructor and teaches Acting, Stage Movement, Stage Voice, Advanced Acting, Period
Acting Styles, Discovering Theatre and Directing. She is an active participant in
the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and was the Irene Ryan Coordinator
for Region VII for 5 years. Additionally, Trotter has produced and directed theatre
outreach programs such as Las Memorias and The Performance Project.

Theatre S.H.I.P.

The Theatre Special Housing Interest Program area in Nickerson Hall is designed for
students minoring in or majoring in theatre. This SHIP provides close proximity to
the department’s Black Box Theatre, a lounge to rehearse lines and blocking, a fully
equipped dance studio and access to dining facilities.